14 replies to this topic

[freshairmini]

Hi,

Recently I had the luck of finding a place to start my RSP restoration. The workshop I found has a guy that was rebuilding a land rover and he told me about cold galvanising, he had used it on his chassis to stop the rusting and he was going to do it on the bulkhead, as they are prone to it, plus he's had mini's so he's fed up rust!

Has anyone cold galvanised a mini shell? Is it possible and is it work OK with painting over the top with the usual paint?

Any advice would be great!

Thanks.

[tiger99]

Cold galvanising is simply a zinc rich primer, which I have previously used, and does work really well, as long as it stays in place. It really needs the surface to be grit blasted, which I was unable to do. It MUST go on bare metal, not on top of etch primer, which is why grit blasting is important. Even without that, it did last for a few years, but eventually peeled off. The better varieties of cold galvanising seem to use an epoxy binder, and can be overpainted with anything you are likely to want, preferably epoxy primer followed by sandable primer/filler, or stonechip, then top coats.

The big advantage, apart from cathodic protection (which means that like true galvanising it still works even if it is scratched) is that unlike etch, you can spray repaired areas of your car as you go, and they will be ok for quite some time, without needing to be fully painted.

Next time, I will be using it again, if I can find a way of getting the shell grit blasted. I understand that there are DIY grit blasting guns available, but have not investigated yet.

Zinga is said to be the best, but Rustoleum may have something similar, and the stuff I used was Rocol. Don't know if you can still get it.

[sonikk4]

Tiger have a look at these. I'm going to get one for when i do Project Paddy next year.
http://www.ebay.co.u...f#ht_500wt_1361

[tiger99]

Interesting! Soda is great for certain things, as it does very little damage. It seems that it can use more aggressive media too, which would be appropriate for preparing for cold galvanising.

I guess that once my ever so slow house renovation is finished, and I have a garage again, I will be wanting one of those.

[freshairmini]

Is there any better alternatives to cold galvanising, that would last longer that you know of?

[tiger99]

SAFETY WARNING! I have just seen that on another forum someone has been using building sand in something like that to do his car. Please don't! The use of normal sand may ultimately be fatal, as it is likely to cause silicosis., if any of the fine particles liberated get through your mask. It is also illegal, and endangers anyone in the vicinity.

Soda is ok of course. Proper "grit" for blasting is quite often hard iron oxide, which is ideal, and safe. It seems to be available quite cheaply, but not of course as cheap as sand. Ruining your health for a few quid would be just plain daft.

[sonikk4]

Bloody hell daft beggars, all for saving money but not at the expense of my health. I'm wondering what warnings are covered in the manual for items like those blasters??

[tiger99]

As for better alternatives, yes, hot dip galvanising is very much better, indeed the best possible protection for steel, but don't try it on a car. Subframes, maybe (opinions differ).

Hot zinc spraying by plasma or gas torch is approximately similar in performance to cold galvanising, and again needs grit blasting first. It would be very slow and expensive to cover a shell that way, but it is viable on smaller items.

If you could find someone with a big enough tank, you could try zinc electroplating (again needs grit blast) or electroless nickel plate. Expect to pay a lot!

You could get it chemically dipped and E-coated, but that does not have the advantage of zinc. Works quite well on modern cars. Expensive.

[freshairmini]

Something to think about at least. Thanks

[greenwheels]

Is this any good? http://www.frost.co....lating-kit.html

[freshairmini]

ha, take a while on a whole mini

[firstforward]

Tiger have a look at these. I'm going to get one for when i do Project Paddy next year.
http://www.ebay.co.u...f#ht_500wt_1361

I purchased one of these last month, I got the larger 20 Gallon for £110.00 brand new. If you do decide to buy one make sure you purchase some sheets or tarps to contain the grit as much as possible as it can be collected up again and reused after running it through a sieve to remove any larger junk you have swept up off the floor. I think this grit blaster is really good value for money and can recommend it for removal of rust, paint. You could do a complete shell in a day, make sure also your compressor is away from the mountain of dust created and your neighbours are out for the day.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=120500458414&view=all&tid=888460053002

[valve bounce]

Tiger have a look at these. I'm going to get one for when i do Project Paddy next year.
http://www.ebay.co.u...f#ht_500wt_1361

I purchased one of these last month, I got the larger 20 Gallon for £110.00 brand new. If you do decide to buy one make sure you purchase some sheets or tarps to contain the grit as much as possible as it can be collected up again and reused after running it through a sieve to remove any larger junk you have swept up off the floor. I think this grit blaster is really good value for money and can recommend it for removal of rust, paint. You could do a complete shell in a day, make sure also your compressor is away from the mountain of dust created and your neighbours are out for the day.

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...id=888460053002

ive got one of those and can only echow the above comments, ive done a few sets of wheels, inner wings door bottoms etc, but no a full shell yet. its good but careful what grit you use the grit i got at first had thick bits in and kept clogging

[sonikk4]

It does say to use a water trap when using soda so that will be on the list. Got to be worth it as i have my clubby to do plus my mate has a couple of cars that would benefit from it as well.

[firstforward]

Mine came with a water trap & pressure regulator.

Couple of weeks ago I learnt something about water seperation. I thought a water seperator in-line worked period, but what you really need to achieve is cooling of the air from compressor to outlet so the water actually condenses in the pipe then have the water seperator'(s) as close to the outlet that is practically possible.I now have installed a copper piping run with a couple of large "U" and a seperator installed at the bottom of the U as previously I had 2 seperators both just by the compressor but water vapour was passing these and condensing in the rubber pipe or at my air tool.....not good for paint application!!
Can anybody add to this or am I barking up the wrong tree?